Competitions & Events

Heart Ready For Goal Glut

Melbourne Heart FC striker Mate Dugandzic believes his side is ready for a goal glut ahead of the final two matches of the Hyundai A-League season.

Melbourne Heart FC striker Mate Dugandzic believes his side is ready for a goal glut ahead of the final two matches of the Hyundai A-League season.

Heart-s profligacy in front of goal has proven costly over the past fortnight, with potential back-to-back wins thwarted by missed opportunities, particularly in Saturday-s home draw to Wellington Phoenix.

Despite dominating large portions of the contest, creating numerous gilt-edged opportunities, Heart was unable to convert, ultimately enabling Wellington to bounce back and snatch a point with its only chance of the match, a Paul Ifill thunderbolt.

But with Heart-s finals ambitions now on the line, the urgency of the situation has now escalated, with this weekend-s match with Sydney FC looming as a must-win affair.

Dugandzic though is confident Heart is on the verge of producing a breakthrough performance, where the side will capitalise on its opportunities.

“That's what happened in the Sydney game around Christmas when we won 4-0,” he said.

“We created a number of chances and the goals flowed that game. Obviously we want to have that as much as we possibly can, but we know that it doesn't always happen.

“We're confident in our own ability that we can score goals, that we can get in to good situations.

"I suppose we just need to sharpen up in front of goal that little bit more so that we can get that second goal to be more comfortable in second.”

Melbourne Heart FC returns to training on Tuesday ahead of the crunch encounter, hoping to maintain its strong record against the Sky Blues.

In five meetings with Sydney FC, Heart remains unbeaten, recording two wins and three draws to hold the edge over the two-time Hyundai A-League Champions.